Lower denture retaining device



E. W. TOWN Lowmz DENTURE RETAINING DEVICE Sept. 7, 1937.

File@ oct'. 11, 1955 Patented Sept. 7, 1937 UNITEDl s'rn'llssA PATENToFF-1er.

2Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful retaining device adapted forholding the lower denture of artificial teeth in position, eiciently andin'a comfortable manner. y

.It is well known in the dental profession that, due to theirregularities of Athe contour of the lower gum, and due to the paucityof contact and suction surface, it is practically impossible for a lowerdenture to remain in xed position in the mouth,'even though such plateis made right and properly fitted.. This is particularly so due to thefact', that thev contour of the gum of the patient wearing the dentureis constantly changing and it is obviously impractical to change thedenture as often as 'the contourof the lower gum changes.

To overcome this difficulty, various expedients have been resorted toamong which was the use of a powdered adhesive calculated to dissolveinto a viscous mass intended to hold the denture in place partly byVitsadhesive viscosity and partly due to the tendency of the viscous massto ll the crevices resulting from irregularities in the gum and thusincrease' the suction and contact surface. Aside from the fact that anysuch powder ultimately nds its way into the stomach of the user, it hasalso been found that the powder is effective only very temporarily dueto the fact that under the action of saliva the viscosity is graduallyreduced until it loses all of its effectiveness, both as an adhesive andas a iilier. Other expedients have consisted in the use of a piece offabric cut to the' shape of the denture and interposed between thedenture, and the gum, such fabric being in the nature of cotton gauze,as in the Rowe Patent No. 1,917,902. The action of this expedient was tocushion the gum and to i 'supply fricti-onal engagement between the gumand the denture', with or without the aid of an adhesive. Due'to thefact that this fabric is of a uniform thickness it will interpose thesame cross-section intermediate the high` and low points of the gum anddenture, and since these points do not always coincide, (due to thechanges inthe gum after the. denture is made) it is apparent that afabric having a uniform cross-section, or thickness, will not besatisfactory.

Still another expedient is disclosed in the Mac- Kinnon Patent Re.16,962, in which a large shaped cotton roll is interposed between thegum and the denture together with a stiffened lip adapted to engage theinside wall of the denture. This construction is disadvantageous in thatits use will interfere with proper articulation to the extent ofthethickness of the roll, and for other reasons.

It is therefore the object of my invention to overcome thesedifllculties and to that end I have produced a novel device which isextremely inex.- pensive, vand which, in additin to greatly increasingthe comfort of wearing a lower denture, also effectively createssufllcient suctional surface contact properly to keep the lower denturein position at all times.

To the above ends, my novel retaining device consists of a relativelythin sheet, cut and formed to the shape of the gum, said sheet beingmade of padded, felted, or molded cotton fibers or the like, which'areheld together by mechanical compression and not by means of any adhesiveor sizing, so that when the retaining device is moistened by saliva, thepadded or felted bers are loosened from each other, and the initiallyuniform cross-sectional thickness of the retaining device nowautomatically adapts or adjusts itself to compensate for theirregularities that exist between the contour of the gum and the dentureafter the denture has been worn for som time. f

My invention still further relates to a retaining device which isautomatically adjustable todifferent sizes of gums and dentures',thereby enabling me to manufacture the retaining device in a minimumnumber of different sizes.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a plan view of a lower denture retaining deviceembodying my invention.

Fig. 2 represents a cross-section on line 2-2 Aof Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of a lower` denture applied to alower gum and showing the use of my retaining device.

Fig. 4 represents a section on line li-il of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 represents a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 represents, on an enlarged scale, a section similar to Fig. 2illustrating diagrammatically the composition of the retaining device.

Referring to the drawing in which like reference charactersrepresentlike parts, the general shape of my novel retaining device as viewed in`top plany view, is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 from which it will be seenthat the retaining device is of a generally. inverted U or V shape toform the raised portion i, which is adapted to rest over the ridge 2 ofthe lower gum 3, and the inner and outer inclined walls 4 and 5, whichare adapted to engage the corresponding inner and outer sloping walls ofthe gum 3. The lower edges of the side walls 6 and 5 are preferablyupwardly inclined, as at 6 and l, so as to form a cushion and a sealunder and around the respective lower edges 8 and 9 of the lower dentureIl, as best seen in Fig. 4, itbeing noted that the lower edge 1 of theouter wall 5 is adapted to overlap the lower edge 9 of the gum, as willbe best un '5 derstood from Figs. 3 and 4. Referring now to Fig. 5, itwill be seen that after the retaining device is placed in the mouth andwetted with the saliva.,'its bers loosen and redistribute themselvesunder pressure, thus automatically adjust- 10 ing its cross-sectionalthickness to correspond to the shape of the space between the dentureand the gum Thus, intermediate the surface of the denture and a highpoint in the gum, such as I2, the retaining device is of a reduced l5cross-sectional thickness, and it is of an increased cross-sectionalthickness at a low point in the gum, or where thereis arelativelylargespace between the gum and the lower denture, as at I3. Thus, theautomatic self-adjustment and redistrlbution of the iibers produces thenecessary alterations in the contour and cross-section of the retainingdevice to fit the retaining device to the exact surface variations vinthe surface of the denture as well as to the irregularities occurring inthe contour of the gum. This results in uniformly distributing thepressure on the entire gum, thereby preventing inammation due toexcessive localized pressure, in cushioning the gum, thus preventingchafing of the high points of the gum, in providing frlctionalmechanical contact, l `due to filling in the crevices and irregularitiesoccurring between the denture and the gum, vand in providing an adequatesuction surface contact which alone is enoughv firmly to retain thedenture in position. The upturned edge i on the outer wall 5 of theretaining device turned up against the lower edges 9 of thecorresponding wall of the denture serves more iirxnly to engage andretain the same and makes a seal to prevent interruption Yoi? vthesuction first produced after the retaining device has been placed inposition,

wetted and after it has adjusted itself to the contour asabove setforth. In order to render the retaining` device adjustable to mouths ofvarious sizes, I provide the V cut i4 in the inner wall of the device,by means of which the free ends of the retaining device can be broughtcloserA together or spaced further apart according to the size of thegum or the denture in connection with 50 whichitistobeused.

While I have found that my retaining device works very satisfactorilywhen made in the form of a sheet composed of matted unsized bei's, it isnevertheless within the scope of my invention, if desired, very slightlyto size the sheet, when finished, with a soluble sizing calculated toaid in holding the shape of the retaining device in handling andshipment, such sizing being of a nature that will dissolve immediatelywhen moistened with saliva so as to permit the loosening andself-redistribution of the matted fibers in the manner set forth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A retaining device for a ,lower denture comprising a sheet ofcushioning material having a central raised portion adapted to ride onthe rie ofthe lower gum and pendent side walls adapted to engage theside walls of said lower gum, and an upwardly turned lip on the outer.wail of said retaining device adapted to engage the lower edge of theouter wall of said denture, said sheet being formed of loosely assembledbers adapted, when moistened by saliva and subjected to pressure betweenthe denture and the gum, to redistribute themselves and thus vary thecrosssectional thickness of the sheet in accordance with theirregularities between the denture and the gum, whereby suction isinduced between the gumand the denture and whereby the chafing of thehigh points of the gum by the denture is prevented.

I 2. A retaining device for a lower denture formed of a cushioning sheetadapted to be inserted between said-lower denture and the lower therebeing `a cut-out in a longitudinal edge of said sheet to render saidretaining device adjustable, said sheet being formed of looselyassembled fibers adapted, when moistened by saliva and subjected topressure between the denture and the gum, to redistribute themselves andthus vary the cross-sectional thickness of the sheet in accordance withthe irregularities between the denture and the gum, whereby suction isinduced between the gum and the denture, and whereby the chang of -thehigh points oi the gum by the denture is prevented. l

EDWARD W. TOWN.

